Saturday, February 2, 2013

Back from AWOL.

Hi everyone, it has been too long. I got a chance to kick around the house today for the first time in months and decided I would make it a priority to post to my blog. I've been real busy with work and life's problems but am alive and well and I certainly have been gaming, just not blogging. I think I've said before that a choice between gaming or blogging is no choice at all!

We are still going strong with the Commands & Colors game systems. We love them all and game the hell out of them. Of course we soup them up a bit as that is what we do best. We also have some other great quick games that we continue to play, and it looks like we have finally found some great air combat rules and will be getting back into the cockpit very soon. But that is another story for another day!

Command & Colors Ancients in miniature.

Every once in a while my boy decides to have another go at my Orks, and of course it goes badly. I don't think he's ever beaten my BOYZ! He complains that Orks shouldn't use strategy, but mine all have PHDs in Space Marine arse whooping.

Another Commands & Colors miniature conversion in progress. We love these epic games with all the finger pointing and bickering.

We've been having a lot of fun with the Star Wars X-wing game. This really is a great game and with my space mat and Jil's asteroids it is fantastic eye candy as well.

The asteroids really add a lot to this game.

We have been doing a lot of Memoir 44 miniature conversion games as well.

A Winter war scenario with the pesky Finnish ski troops. These guys are real menaces.

One moment you think your safe, and then WHAMO, they sneak in and punch you up real good.

Soviet wave attacks. We use anything we have at hand. This Winter war stuff works real well with Soviet Flames of War basing vs individual Finnish basing. Gives a great numerical effect.

Elite ski troopers lurking in the woods and the Soviets very much afraid to come out and play.

Attacks have a nasty habit of stalling if you don't have enough artillery support.

In one game the Soviets managed to break through and finally cause some mayhem.

I simply love board games that look like this!

Latest project was the old board game "Battle Cry" which is also a Command & Colors game system. I like the game for a "quickie" but simply cannot abide those damned plastic pieces. So of course we converted it.

Now doesn't this look a lot better?

The miniatures are Oddzial 3mm from Poland. Very fast to paint up with a light dry brush and a little decent flag work, and you are ready to go.

Very inexpensive setup, and the trees are just styrofoam shaved and painted.

I liked how this came out so much that I am doing some WW2 conversions this way for Memoir 44 as well.

Thanks guys. The Rich Borg systems are really hard to beat. You gotta give up some nitty gritty, but they are damned fun, you never know what to expect next, and you can play several games in an afternoon. I've run just about the entire field of rules sets and I have to say this one seems to be sticking.

What Miniatures Gaming is All About:

This quote was taken from a brilliant post by John Paul on the THW yahoo group.This is exactly what this hobby is all about!

The first time a new kid comes to game:

What? There's no screen? How do you... You mean I have to face my opponent and even have to talk to them. (You got a nice house here.)Heh.... What's that? Dice? How quaint. (Sure, I'll take a Coke.) Coollittle figures. You know, I've heard about army men from movies... YOU PAINT THEM YOURSELF?! (You do a good job, I could never do that.) Nice dollhouses. Hey, can I bring my Hot Wheels?

No No Go left!I think we should run through the house. (Yea, my teacher said the same thing in my class. Who do you have?) Cool, I want to loot the body... YEA! I got a shotgun. (I'd say the scene with Shelob was the scariest.) Wow, I almost died. Thanks for saving me. Why are you laughing. No, You can't have my shotgun. I guess with that pistol aimed at my face, you are going to get that shotgun. Just watch your back. (Well, my favorite show is in an hour, but I can record it. No, I'll stay.) How come we shoot the zombies up and we always get more and Jake is beating them with a baseball bat and he gets none? (Stop throwing popcorn at me...Steve...[giggle]...Don't do it Steve... [giggle-haahaaa]) Is that a grenade? OOOHH. How did I know you werein the explosion's spread.... Do I have enough room to scoot over and pick up the shotgun from his mangled body? How many more zombies did that bring in? (You got great parents. I didn't know you could play this with them.) Awesome. I just became zombie chow!

Well, that was cool! er... do you... when do you play this again? (You guys are cool to hang around with.)Can I get one of those miniatures with a shotgun.I love shotguns! Can you paint it for me? You'll show me how to paint it? Cool!

What really happens to youth when they venture forth from Video Games andget sucked into the dark vortex of wargaming. : )

John Paul

About Me

I figured it was time to change my profile as I have completely evolved as a gamer the past couple of years. I no longer describe myself as "avid" but just plain sick. Ever since getting into skirmish gaming things in my miniatures world have been just plain awesome. Glancing through my blog you will quickly figure out that I love it all; any period, any scale, and there is no telling what you will find here from day to day. My kids and their friends like to play and even my Wife will game from time to time which is kind of the ultimate achievement for any gamer. I'm blessed with fellow gamers in the Houston area which are as fanatic as myself and our biggest problem is not when we will play, but what we will play. You can find me knocking about many miniatures related sites around the web as Veloci, Sturmflieger, or LTL Dad.